Page 124 of Eternal Obsession

“I let him take you. I should have known . . .”

“Jadeon.” Catherine’s hands roamed my face, moving over my lips. “Orpheus is too quick for all of us. I should not have gone with him in the first place when he came for me at the convent, but he told me you were in danger. I was so naive.”

“Where did he take you?”

“France, a château in Marseille. I knew that you followed us. He threatened me that he would kill both you and Alex if I ever left him. I kept you safe by staying with him.”

“Why did you not contact me. I . . .”

“He watches my every move.”

“But no message?”

“Impossible. He has me constantly guarded.”

“I have you now,” I said.

Catherine glanced into the darkness. “You have to stop him. He vowed that he would break you, destroy your will. I became his to protect you, but not a day has gone by that I have not thought of you. Jadeon, you are not strong enough right now. You must go to the ancient one, the Alchemist.”

“Who?”

A noise startled her. “He’s an immortal who will guide you to the truth and then you will return to free us and, indeed, Orpheus from himself.”

“I am not leaving you here.”

“You have no choice,” she said. “He has Alex.”

“We’ll find him.”

“I can’t leave just yet.”

“No. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“I know it seems hard.”

“Catherine, you are my dearest friend.”

“Then trust me. Find the Alchemist.” Catherine kissed my cheek with affection, and it was tender and honest and exquisitely innocent.

All thoughts melted away.

All these years, no, these endless decades, I had pursued her through centuries, haunted by the ghost of her presence. And now, at last, we were reunited. Her kiss was a benediction, her touch a divine absolution.

“Do you love him?” I asked, confused as I read her thoughts.

“I have grown to love him,” she said softly. “In the way you love a wounded animal, needing to save it, save him.”

No, she felt any affection for him shattered me yet. It was so like her to try to make the world kinder and safer.

“What has he done to you?”

“It’s complicated,” she whispered it.

Whatever enchantment had been woven around Catherine, I would not rest, not while he held her in his dark thrall. I would find a way to break his hold, to drag her back from whatever abyss he’d pulled her into.

“How do I find him?” I said firmly. “This alchemist?”

She fumbled with the engraved ring on her middle finger. I sensed she wanted to give it to me, but it clung to her finger refusing to give.